new mail?

January 20, 2011 2:54 PM

Email client for Mac?

I have been using Gmail forever. I like it, but the functionality kind of annoys me (especially, inability to block domains and senders, inability to "send later"). I know all about filters and I am great at writing them. I also use Letter Me Later to send later, etc.

I am looking for a Mac application that does email well. I am unhappy with Apple Mail, Entourage, and Thunderbird. I don't like Yahoo or Hotmail. I have my own domain with an online mail app, and it kind of sucks too.

I actually really like Outlook for Windows, but I do not want to run Windows on my Mac. Entourage is not really on the same level as Outlook.

One thing I want to do is actually block domains or senders and have them notified that they are blocked. I know I can write a filter and forward the a canned email. But I really just want a blacklist (or whitelist) and have the mail client do the rest. I also want to be able to send later. Additionally, what ever I use needs to have a really good calendar that will sync to Google's calendar.

Any ideas?

I am a heavy email user and use calendar functions extensively.

posted by wandering_not_lost to computers & internet (12 answers total)

Do you realize that they make Outlook for Mac?
posted by dflemingecon at 3:00 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have Outlook for the Mac. It is just renamed Entourage. The Mac version is not as good as the Windows version.
posted by wandering_not_lost at 3:09 PM on January 20, 2011

Outlook for Mac is a different product from Entourage (which has been nixed in Office 2011), but it isn't as full featured as Outlook for Windows. It's main selling point is that it talks to Exchange servers.
posted by jeffkramer at 3:12 PM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Have you seen Lightning, a Thunderbird add-on? I've never used it, but it would certainly give you calendering functionality. Plus there are tons of Thunderbird plugins for your approval.

Btw, I'm not a Thunderbird user - Apple Mail is more than enough for me.
posted by Magnakai at 3:12 PM on January 20, 2011

You could take a look at Postbox, I haven't used it but I hear good things.

For calendar, you might check out Busycal. I've used it for the last year and the Google Calendar sync works perfectly.

Two separate apps, but they could fit the bill for you. According to the BusyMac forums, the current BusyCal beta has some Postbox support and they're working on improving it.
posted by crosbyh at 3:16 PM on January 20, 2011

Try the new "real" Outlook for Mac. There is probably a free demo available.
posted by The Lamplighter at 3:22 PM on January 20, 2011

If you have not used Thunderbird in a while, the newest version (3.1) sports a lot of UI advancements, including a much better search.

Additionally, what ever I use needs to have a really good calendar that will sync to Google's calendar.

I use Thunderbird with the WAT extension. It keeps Google Calendar open in a separate tab inside Thunderbird.

I use Thunderbird filters extensively and delete several annoying folks right from the server. Very few emails actually hit my inbox (several get deleted, or filed into appropriate folders).
posted by special-k at 3:33 PM on January 20, 2011

I use Thunderbird/Lightning with the Provider for Google Calendar extension. It's a pretty tight integration, with recurring events and reminders handled perfectly.

As for your blocking blacklist, in Thunderbird you can add as a filter action to automatically reply with template, along with deleting the mail that triggers it. Voila, instant don't-bother-me list.
posted by zsazsa at 4:07 PM on January 20, 2011

Entourage was the old MS mail client. The new Office for 2011 has an actual Outlook port.
posted by StrawberryPie at 6:29 PM on January 20, 2011

On a related note, I cannot stand the way that Apple Mail and some other programs do message subject threading. A few alternatives do it properly (IMHO). I used to use VM in XEmacs, but a year ago finally switched to a more modern mailer, and discovered that Gyazmail does message threading properly (again, IMHO :-)). It handles IMAP, and has many other features.

Just mentioning Gyazmail as another possible option.

(I have no relationship with the developer; I'm only saying these things as a satisfied customer.)
posted by StrawberryPie at 6:35 PM on January 20, 2011

Office 2011 for Macintosh is a new ballgame. I loathe Entourage and ran from it once my testing with Office 2011 was done. It's not free but a very solid product for the Mac; and I both Mac and Windows computers at my (work) desk and going between the two Office platforms (2011 and 2010) is seamless.
posted by fluffycreature at 6:28 AM on January 21, 2011

Just wanted to jump in and correct the folks that are suggesting Outlook 2011. Outlook 2011 is just an upgraded and renamed version of Entourage. To be fair, it's come a long way, but it's based on the Entourage code base and still has some pretty significant differences (both interface wise, and under the hood) and quirks vs the windows version of Outlook, one of the biggest of which is that it's not a true MAPI client. The last "real" version of Outlook for mac that had true parity with it's windows counterpart was Outlook 2001 for OS 9, and I don't think you'll want to be running that!

Several thoughts on your actual question (with regard to email clients):
- If you like Outlook, run Outlook via Parallels or VMWare....there really is nothing else exactly like it on the Mac. I have several colleagues who do this, and it's really not that bad. The virtualization software makes it possible to integrate things pretty deeply into your mac work flow.
- Second option: Take another look at Mail.app, but this time with the enhancement of some plugins. I use Mail.app for my professional email account, and out of the box I would be very dissatisfied, but with the addition of MailActOn, FastScripts and some custom apple scripts I've written to integrate Mail into my workflow, I really like it. (Hawkwings is also a great blog for all sorts of Mail.app customizations)
- Third option: I have not used it myself, but you might check out Mailsmith. I've heard good things.
- Finally, if you decide to stick with Gmail after all, you should check out Sparrow (A twitter like gmail client for mac) and Mailplane (An enhanced single app browser specifically designed for gmail)
posted by dyslexictraveler at 7:48 AM on January 21, 2011